Portable color ink fountain



ATTORNEYS Feb. 18, 1958 E. E. BUTCHER ET AL PORTABLE COLOR INK FOUNTAIN Filed July 13, 1956 United St PORTABLE COLOR; INK FOUNTAIN Application July 13, 1956, Serial No, 597,753

1 Claim. (Cl. 101-363) The present invention relates in general to inking mechanism for printing machinery, and more particularly to detachable fountains for feeding coloredinks to an inking roller of a printing press.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel color ink fountain for supplying ink to printing press inking rollers, which can be readily removably mounted on a printing press in proper operative relaa tion with the inking roller, and which isof simple and highly durable construction.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel color ink fountain for supplying ink to print ing press inking rollers, which is adjustable to regulate ink flow to the inking rollers at slow press speeds and maintains the same precisely regulated fiow at high speeds, and wherein no readjustment of ink flow is required after stoppage of the press during runs.

Another object of the present invention is the provi sion of a novel color ink fountain for supplying ink to printing press inking rollers wherein the fountain transfer roller is prevented from carrying up any ink along its end walls to the press inking roller.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention will become apparent from the following detail description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary perspectiveview of a detachable ink fountain embodying the present invention mounted in operative association with the inking rollers of a printing press;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the detachable ink fountain, with the end structure of the fountain transfer roll shown in fragmentary section;

Figure 3 is a transverse section view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section view taken along the line 44 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, there is illustrated a removable ink fountain assembly which is adapted to be mounted on a suitable cross bar bracket 11 bolted or otherwise rigidly affixed to the frame of the printing press, generally indicated at 12, so as to transfer ink of a selected color from the fountain assembly to the inking roller 13 of the press 12 which is in contact with the roller passing over the face of the type which will apply the colored ink to the type face. The removable fountain assembly 10, as more particularly appears in Figures 2-4, inclusive, comprises an ink trough 14 having a bottom wall 15 adapted to be supported in a horizontal plane, a pair of elongated side walls 16, 17 which curve upwardly into erect position from the bottom wall 14 and extend along the longitudinal axis of the fountain which is adapted to be oriented transits 2,823,607 Patented Feb. 18, 1958 versely of the press 12 in parallelism with the press roller axes, and an opposed pair of end walls 18, 19. A plurality of mounting bracket arms 20 project rearwardly from the bottom wall 15 of the trough 14- in spaced parallel relation with each other and terminate in bi! furcated ends 21 having slots 22 extending through the free edge thereof for receiving bolts 23 projecting upwardly from the cross bar bracket 11 whereby the fountain may be rigidly mounted on the cross bar 11 for adjustment toward and away from the inking'roller 13 by washers and nuts threaded onto the bolts 23. Prefer? ably, the trough 14 and mountingbracket arms 20 are cast in a unitary form from aluminum or like material.

A cylindrical transfer roller- 24 is journalled for rotation within the trough 14 in axial alignment with the longitudinal axis of the trough, and preferably comprises a solidsteel cylindrical body having a heavy coat of dull hard chromium'plate on the surface thereof to provide a scratch and wear-resistant surface. The opposite ends of the transfer roller, 24 are provided with identical journal' mountings, comprising a stub trunnion or arbor 25 having a neck portion 26 fitted in a complementary apere ture. in the end walls 18, 19 of the trough, bounded in one direction by an enlarged cylindrical head 27 which overlies, the; outer surfaces of the trough end walls 18, 19 and is fixed to the end walls by a screw 28, and bound: ed in the other direction by a restricted cylindrical portion 29 which projects into a porous bronze bushing 30 fitted in a corresponding aperture in each end of the transfer roller- 24. Preferably, an oil duct 31 extends through the trunnion 25 from the head 27 thereof through the inner end to permit communication of oil to the porous bronze bushing 30. a

In order to prevent transfer of ink from the trough 14 along the ends 32 of the transfer roller 24 to the inking roller 13,, a sealing arrangement is provided at each end ofthe transfer roller. Each end 32 of the transfer roller 24 is provided with an axially projecting annular peri: pheral portion 33 which is adapted to be, engaged by a sealing disk 34, preferably consisting of a bronze disk of circular cross-section which isof the same diameter as the transfer roller 24. The sealing disk 34 is supported in non-rotary intimate frictional contact with the annular peripheral pro ection 33 by means ofmount ing PLUS 3: which are fixed to the sealing disk 34 and project away from the ad acent ends of the transfer-roller 24 to be loosely received in accommodating apertures in the neck 26 of each of the stub trunnions 25. Coil springs 36 surround the pins 35 and are disposed under compression between the sealing disks 34 and their adjacent fountain side walls to resiliently urge the sealing disks 34 into intimate contact with the annular end projections 33 of the transfer roller 24. It will be apparent from Figure 4 that a flat 37 is formed on the periphery of each of the sealing disks 34 in the region where the transfer roller 24 makes contact with the inking roller 13 of the press so that the inking roll does not drag against a stationary surface which would wear or cut it.

A doctor knife assembly is also provided on the trough comprising a knife bar 38 which extends the entire length of the trough 14 and is rigidly fixed to the upper edges of the trough end walls 18, 19, by means of bolts 39. A spring steel doctor knife 40 is fixed to the underside of the knife bar 38 by means of a clamping strip 41 and bolts 42 to project toward the surface of the transfer roller 24. The forwardmost lower edge portion of the knife bar 38 adjacent the transfer roller 24 is cut away along an incline, as indicated at 43 to free the edge of the doctor knife 40 and a plurality of thumb screws 44 extend downwardly through threaded apertures spaced in alignment with each other along the forward edge of the knife bar 7 V. a 3 38 and project into the relieved area 43 to bear upon the doctor knife 40 adjacent its working edge and adjust the spacing of the workingedge of the doctor knife 40 from the surface of the transfer roller 24.

In the use of the above-described invention,.the fountain assembly 10 is mounted on the cross bar 11 ,by Positioning the fountain to seat the bolts 23 in the slots 22 of the mounting bracket arms 20 and tightening the nuts on the bolts 23 when the fountain is positioned to dispose the surface of the transfer roller 24 in desired uniform contact with the surface of the inking roller 13. With the above-described construction, the transfer roller 24 is driven merely by frictional contact with the driven inking roller 13. The thumb screws 44 are then adjusted to space the'working edge of the doctor knife 40 thedesired degree fromthe surface of the transfer roller 24, when the press is operating at slow speed, to establish the desired flow of ink to the inking roller 13'. The fountain assembly 10 is then ready to operate at full speed of the press. The colored ink, which is preferably one of the thin-bodied printing inks, is then picked up from the trough 14 from the surface of the transfer roller 24 and restricted to the desired film thickness by the working edge of the doctor knife 40, and is transferred by physical contact to the inking roller 13. The sealing'disks 34 which are urged into intimate contact with the annular peripheral projections 33 at the opposite ends 32 of the transfer roller 24 avoid any ink being carried up by the ends 32 of the roller 24, which would not be subject to flow regulation by the doctor knife 40, and thereby avoid any loss of newsprint by marginal flow of ink from the transfer roller 24. Since the transfer roller 24 is friction driven from the press inking roller 13, transfer of colored ink from the fountain assembly 10 to the inking roller 13 is terminated when the press stops. Therefore, no readjustment of the flow of colored ink need be made when the press stops. By this facility, therefore, the readjustment of flow each time the press stops, to terminate supply of ink to the press during the inactive period, and the loss of newsprint during the readjustment period when the press is again started, which are necessary incidents on the conventional drip-type color ink fountains, are completely eliminated.

While only one preferred embodiment of the invention has been particularly shown and described, it is apparent that other modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art and are set forth in the appended claim.

We claim:

A color ink fountain for supplying ink to a driven inking roller of a rotary printing press comprising an elongated fountain adapted to be removably disposed alongside said inking roller having a bottom and erect side and end walls, a cylindrical transfer roller in said fountain for supplying ink from said fountain to said inking roller, means secured to said end walls for journalling said transfer roller for rotation within saidfountain, a plurality of laterally spaced mounting arms projecting to one side of said fountain parallel to said side Walls in the plane of said bottom in a direction to extend away from said inking roller, said mounting arms each having an elongated slot adjacent the terminus thereof extending parallel to said end wall plane to accommodate Securing means for affixing said arms to said cross frame member and permit adjustment of said fountain along a rectilinear axis parallel to said side walls and perpendicular to the axis of said inking roller to dispose said transfer roller in frictionally driven contact with said inking roller, means for regulating the thicknesses of the ink film on said transfer roller, each end of said cylindrical transfer roller having an uninterrupted annular projecting portion at the periphery thereof and a recessed central portion, a disk having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of said transfer roller positioned adjacent each end of said transfer roller, fixed guide pins spaced in diametrically opposite relation to the axis'of said disks and extending in parallelism with the axis of said disks and said transfer roller, said pins supporting said disks for axial movement relative to said fountain side walls, and spring means surrounding said guide pins and located between said disks and their adjacent fountain side walls for resiliently maintaining said disks in frictional contact with said projecting annular peripheral portions of said transfer roller ends to prevent transfer of ink along said roller ends from said fountain to said inking roller; said disks each having relieved flats along the peripheral portions thereof to be disposed immediately adjacent said inking roller for maintaining said disks spaced from said inking roller when said transfer roller is in contact with said inking roller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,840,069 Walker et a1. Jan. 5, 1932 1,840,071 Werner et al. Jan. 5, 1932 2,163,335 Blackley June 20, 1939 2,206,712 Babson July 2, 1940 2,516,941 Babicz Aug. 1, 1950 

